Preview: UFC Fight Night 228 ‘Fiziev vs. Gamrot’

Welterweights

Bryan Battle (9-2, 4-1 UFC) vs. A.J. Fletcher (10-2, 1-2 UFC)

ODDS: Battle (-175), Fletcher (+145)

Battle’s move to welterweight has yielded some surprisingly interesting results. The middleweight winner of the “The Ultimate Fighter” revival in 2021, Battle was a raw prospect left to learn on the job with a game that did not seem guaranteed to succeed at the UFC level. Battle did not read as much of an athlete but looked to leverage pace and cardio in the hopes that he could survive his opponent’s offense and gut out a win. Battle did seem to be packing some extra weight at 185 pounds, so a cut down to welterweight was not necessarily a shock, but he has carried a surprising amount of power with his newly leaned-out frame. Battle’s two UFC wins at welterweight have lasted a combined 58 seconds and resulted in impressive knockouts. Of course, in between those wins sits his December loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov, which showed that a powerful wrestler can still pin Battle to the mat and leave him without much of an answer. Battle looks for another highlight-reel win against Fletcher, who is attempting to build on the first win of his UFC career. Another UFC signee who was raw upon making it to the promotion, “The Ghost” has a solid and entertaining game featuring knockout power and some surprisingly strong wrestling given his lack of a background in the sport. However, Fletcher has run into some trouble thanks to his physical limitations, as he is a thickly-built fireplug of a man with one of the shortest reaches in the welterweight division. Fletcher has put in some game efforts, but the UFC matchmaking has compounded things by consistently putting him against some tall and physically imposing opponents, though he was finally able to run through Themba Gorimbo for a submission victory in February. Fletcher might find some success with his wrestling, as Battle is the type of opponent who is willing to try and find a submission and then attempt to work his way out of trouble. However, the bet is that the combination of Battle’s size and cardio allows him to eke out a fight that might be closer than it appears on paper. The pick is Battle via decision.

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Fiziev vs. Gamrot
Mitchell vs. Ige
Rodriguez vs. Waterson-Gomez
Battle vs. Fletcher
Jourdain vs. Ramos
The Prelims